


A Sleepover at a Castle

by Badgermole



Series: Colors [10]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Arguments, Autism, Car Ride, Colors, Gen, Nonverbal Communication, Pancakes, Sleepovers, Stimming, dad!logan, kid!virgil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2019-10-28 07:44:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17783372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Badgermole/pseuds/Badgermole
Summary: Logan is stressed. Virgil has his first sleepover.**Picks up directly after A Baby at Logan's.**(Just read it, Nike Swoosh)





	1. Chapter 1

Logan groaned as his body started to wake up. His body felt absolutely horrible. His neck was sore and bent backward. Pins-and-needles ran up and down both his legs. He took a few deep breaths to better focus on his body beneath the pain.

His small mental check concluded that he just felt awful, but nothing was wrong. As he blurrily blinked open his eyes, he wondered why he felt so horrible. It wasn’t like he was one for extraneous physical activity. On the ceiling above him, Logan could see the large P constellation he had fallen asleep to.

_Oh._

He had fallen asleep with his head craned back and sitting on Virgil’s floor. It wasn’t too bright out yet, so the sun hadn’t fully risen yet. It was coming up though, so Logan had to have spent no less than six hours in this position. Of course he would feel horrible.

Worried about the lack of blood flood to his legs, Logan attempted to shift them but he realized there was a heavy weight on top of them. Confused, Logan looked down to find Virgil sitting silently holding open one of Logan’s Hubble Telescope photography books. There were few words, but many gorgeous pictures. His son was currently tracing a purple wisp in a gas nebula.

Virgil had his side firmly pressed into Logan’s chest, but kept his head floating slightly above Logan.  His finger stopped as the purple wisp disappeared into the nebula. The small boy let out a small hum and awkwardly rotated the open book toward Logan’s chest for him to see.

“It is quite beautiful isn’t it?” Logan whispered sleepily.

Virgil flinched and fell backward off Logan’s lap. The teacher’s limbs were too heavy with sleep to react quick enough before Virgil landed with a quiet thump on the floor. Virgil looked up surprised at his dad. He hadn’t noticed that Logan had woken up, Logan slowly reached out in case Virgil wanted help up. Instead Virgil dropped the book into Logan’s lap and quickly climbed back up.

Logan took the book and situated it so both could see the breathtaking space photos.

 

Logan wrung his hands watching as Patton helped Virgil pack the last of his things. While the early morning reading had been so calm and happy, all those good feelings had left the nervous man. He was sending his son away. Patton’s stern but caring voice floated into his head, _You’re not sending him away. He’s just going to have a sleepover with Roman. It’s just a day so we can figure this whole brother situation._

Logan shook his head. The sleepover had only been planned this morning after Logan had gotten five voice-mails from his brother that simply stated to call him back. He couldn’t have Virgil home with Dee coming over. Unless Dee was drunk, Logan didn’t think that he would come maliciously to take Virgil away. Sure he had said he’s been sober but Logan just couldn’t risk it.

Virgil was handling the whole thing pretty well. The play-date yesterday had obviously been canceled and aside from a bit of tenderness, Virgil’s face was okay. He hadn’t mentioned Dee at all, not that Logan was particularly expecting it. And to top it all off, Virgil had never had a sleepover before. He had never slept somewhere other than his own bed in his own house. Roman and Thomas had offered a number of times for Virgil to spend the night but neither Virgil nor Logan had been particularly keen on the idea.

Virgil was moving slower than he normally would but he was helping and pointing to things he wanted to pack. Logan hoped that the slowness was from some normal nervousness or thoughtfulness rather than a sign of him being very overwhelmed. He was trying to help his son not hurt him. Logan looked down. Virgil had plopped on the floor to decide what crayons he was going to bring.

 _It’s like choosing your favorite child,_ Logan chuckled lightly as Virgil pulled two crayons out. The small boy brought them close to his face and gently rolled them between his fingers. He compared the sizes and examined the pointedness of each tip before returning one to the box and placing the other in the ‘bring to Red’s house’ pile.

Logan wasn’t too sure how much the crayons would actually be used, but if it helped Virgil relax for the day ahead, he didn’t care. He had sent a giant text to Thomas that detailed Virgil’s normal routine for bed time. He had read over the draft, checking and rechecking that he had written everything down, before Patton had reached over and pressed the send button.

“It’s going to be fine. If something happens they’re only a few blocks away.” Patton had pushed Logan down into the couch and started kneading the tight knots out of his boyfriend’s shoulders.

Logan was pulled back to the present to find Patton’s hands on his shoulders again. Patton placed a soft kiss onto the back of Logan’s head. Logan was so lucky to have Patton in his life. He had never been particularly drawn to the idea of dating, but he honestly couldn’t remember what it was like to be single. Patton brought such as great atmosphere and vibrancy into his life. And the kindergarten teacher was wonderful with Virgil and Logan’s own eccentricities. Logan had never thought himself as a helicopter parent, but Patton helped Logan relax and gave Virgil some more independence.

Logan smiled and turned around to properly kiss Patton.

 

“Purple, please put your pants back on.” Logan pinched the bridge of his nose. With the distraction of his crayons gone, Virgil seemed to realize the reality of the situation and was not happy about it. Virgil kept his head trained at the ground but tilted it slightly towards the right. _No._ Logan had informed Virgil of the new updated schedule, they were supposed to leave for the Prince's house in five minutes. Now the small boy stood in the middle of his room in his underwear.

"Why don't you call Thomas and let him know we may be late, okay?" Patton whispered to Logan before taking a few steps to crouch down in front of Virgil. Logan sighed but left Patton in charge. He wandered slowly down the stairs and into the kitchen where the electric kettle was already warm and a small cup of tea rested on the counter.

Virgil's head ducked further into his chest at Patton's approach but he didn't move away. Patton reached to the side and pulled Virgil's pants into his lap. He carefully pulled out the word card and put it a few inches from the tips of Virgil's toes.

"So you can talk if you want to." Patton's soft voice noted as he patted the card on the carpet. Virgil took a quick glance up toward Patton's face before following suit and sat crisscrossed on the carpet. His right hand fell off to the side and started grabbing at the plush carpet. He let his fingers get tickled by the soft fabric before tightly grabbing it and pulling up slightly. When the carpet deformed upright, Virgil quickly patted the fuzz back down.

Tickle. Pull. Pat.

Tickle. Pull. Pat.

Tickle. Pull. Pat.

"Do you want to go play with Red?" Patton asked watching Virgil's hand.

There was a long pause as Virgil continued his sequence but as he went to pat the carpet back down, his left hand fell in time with his right. <Yes>

"You can't go to Red's with no pants, kiddo." Patton stated as Virgil pulled his hand back from the card. Once again there was a pause as Virgil the cycle repeated.

Tickle. Pull. <No>

Patton frowned. "Do you want different pants?" Patton guessed. Virgil's wardrobe was mostly just ten pairs of the exact same pants but it was worth a shot.

Tickle. Pull. <Angry face>

"Are you mad that today's not following the normal routine?"

Tickle. Pull. A point to the pants.

"Your pants are angry?" Patton attempted. Virgil hummed and wiggled his butt into the carpet. The bespectacled man nodded slowly still rather confused. Aside from pajama pants and a few dress pants, Patton didn't know what else Virgil had to wear.

Hum. Pull. Pat.

Hum. Pull. Pat.

Hum. Pull. Pat.

Patton stood in time with at a 'Hum' before approaching the front of the closest. He stood with his hands on his hips and head slightly cocked. He wasn't quite sure what he was looking for. He knew how the closet was laid out, the bundle of identical pants, then the pajama pants, and finally the dress pants. A number of normal pants and pajama pants were missing, easily spotted by their empty hangers. What surprised Patton was the lone empty hanger on the other side of the dress pants. The small clamp hanger stuck out like a sore thumb.

The gears started to turn in Patton's head as he stared at the imposter hanger. Virgil wore less than a total of five different outfits, this shouldn't be this hard.

A huge smile filled his face as he turned back to the boy. How could he have forgotten!

"You want your shorts!" Patton exclaimed. While he was no Sherlock Holmes, he made a pretty good Watson if he did say so himself.

 

Patton glanced at Virgil in the review mirror. It had taken some time for Virgil to get comfortable in his shorts. On and off. On and off. Switch to pants. On and off. On and off. But Virgil settled into them eventually.

Virgil was stimming a lot in his car seat. Patton couldn't tell them apart like Logan could but Virgil had his rare small smile on his face so it had to be pretty alright. The young boy was currently leaning as far forward as the straps would let him, which honestly wasn't very much. A pressure stim if Patton recalled correctly. That one was more of something he did when he was nervous or there was change. He was also rubbing circles into his basketball shorts. That one was more connected to Roman than any particular emotion. The last was something newer. Virgil had been letting out a quiet consistent hum for the entire length of the short car ride. Sure he would hum sometimes, but those had always been short little bursts of acknowledgment

Virgil liked the vibrations in his throat. He had never noticed before how nice it felt. Consistent and strong. He wondered if that was why people liked talking so much, so they could feel it all the time. Red liked to talk a lot. Maybe when he got to Red's, Red would let him feel his vibrations too. Sometimes people didn't like being touched, so he would have to remember to ask before just touching his friend's neck. Virgil was pretty good at remembering that one. He didn't like people touching him sometimes too.

He glanced up and out the window. It only last a few seconds before he turned back into the car. They were going too slow. The colors outside would blur if you went fast. Virgil's smile faltered. He wanted the colors to blur. But Red lived close and they didn't have to use one of the fast roads to get there. Maybe Green could drive and they could go fast for the colors. He hadn't driven with Green before but Virgil liked Green and he liked the outside of the Prince's car.

Virgil let his legs bounce against the seat in a motion that mirrored walking. They only took the car to Red's when it was raining. He had wanted to walk, but Patton said they had to drive today. Virgil hadn't understood why but had eventually gotten into the car with hopes they would get to see the blurry colors. In actuality, Patton couldn't spend the time walking there and back. He had promised Logan that he would be back before Dee showed up.

 

"You ready kiddo?" Patton asked as he helped unbuckle Virgil and grabbed the bag with the boy's clothes. Virgil slid out of the car seat. He grabbed his small backpack that held his crayons and ran up to the Prince's front door. He came to a sudden stop with a slight rock before reaching up and standing on his tip-toes to hit the doorbell, which he continued to hit with each step Patton took up to the house. "Maybe not that many times Purp."

Virgil pressed the button a few more times before stopping and letting his hand drop to his side. The door open as Patton arrived and Virgil ducked in and started up the stairs to Roman's room.

"Hello Purple!" Thomas chuckled and called up the stairs watching the small boy go. Virgil paused and said a quiet "Green" before continuing his climb.

The natural happy atmosphere decreased slightly as Thomas turned back toward Patton. "Logan rewrote his instructions for you." Patton placed a perfectly folded piece of paper into Thomas' hand.

"We're right around the corner." Thomas dropped a hand onto Patton's shoulder while his other took the bag of Virgil's belongings. "Everything is going to turn out okay."

Patton suddenly wrapped his arms around Thomas into a tight hug. It was so wrong to have seen such a frazzled Logan these past 24-hours. Neither was even sure what exactly Virgil understood with what was going on. Thomas returned the hug just as tightly.

Against almost every fiber in his being, Patton pulled away and wiped away a few tears he hadn't realized he had shed. Thomas gave a small comforting smile before Patton left, closing the door behind him.


	2. Purple Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long! Please enjoy!

Virgil opened the door.

 

His small purple beanie clad had slowly poked out into the dark hallway. It was past 7:30. He was supposed to be asleep, but how could he sleep if he wasn’t home. At 7:30 he would put on his pajamas and Blue would read him a story. He would curl up on top of his pillows while he listened. He would give Blue a hug and then give the other Blue a hug. When they left, he would stand and let his toes flex in the carpet until he heard them climb into bed. He would lay under his big blankets. He would look up at his stars.

Virgil liked Red and green, but at 7:30 Blue didn’t read him a story. Virgil couldn’t curl up on his pillows or hug the Blues or any of it. Thomas had tried to read a story, like Logan’s notes had told him, but Virgil had stayed firmly planted in the middle of Roman’s room rocking.

Roman was really worried about his friend. He didn’t want Virgil to be upset. They had had a lot of fun playing together all day. First they played with Virgil’s new glitter crayons. Then they played King and Knight. They even got to watch Mulan with dinner! Roman was the one who eventually convinced Virgil to climb into bed with him after building a small pillow wall. Roman was quick to fall asleep, but Virgil grew more agitated and moved to the floor. But not even Roman’s carpet was right.

So Virgil found himself slowly making his way down the empty hall. He wrapped his arms tightly around himself, his toes twitching against the Not Right rug. He didn’t like the dark. There weren't any colors in the dark. Unconsciously he started letting out a monotonous hum. Virgil stopped suddenly as his toes curled around the edge of the floor. The stairs.

It was dangerous to go down the stairs in the dark. And Virgil couldn’t turn the light on because it was after 7:30. So he carefully lowered himself and butt scooted down the stairs. Virgil didn’t like it and the humming grew a bit louder.

 

Virgil’s humming got louder as he wandered in and out of all the rooms. Hardwood, tiles, carpet. None of it felt right under his feet. This wasn’t his home. The best feeling material was the small fluffy rug in the bathroom. He curled up on the small foot rug, rubbing his cheek back and forth.

Thomas stretched as he hit the snooze on the alarm clock beside him. Logan’s instructions noted that Virgil would probably be up bright and early. Virgil was an early riser normally and the different environment probably didn’t help that. So Thomas sleepily made his way down the stairs. He planned on making some pancakes for the boys. If he remembered correctly, he had some funfetti mix to add some fun colors into them.

Rummaging through the cabinets, Thomas caught the sound of humming. He jolted nearly dropping the funfetti on the counter. He wasn’t expecting anyone to be up yet. “Good morning?” Thomas called quietly not wanting to startle who was awake and not wake up the other boy.

The humming continued. Thomas quickly started toward the sound. He found Virgil curled up on the bathroom mat humming to himself. His eyes were hidden under the purple beanie.

“Aw Virgil…” Thomas whispered at the sleeping form. The adult knew Virgil was okay, but his heart still broke that Virgil had found himself alone in the dark on the bathroom floor. He wanted to pick the boy up and hold him while he cooked, but Virgil would not be okay with waking up like that. So Thomas did the only thing he could do and quietly wandered back into the kitchen to make breakfast.

 

“Daaaaaad!” Roman shrieked as he nearly tumbled down the stairs. He nearly fell over before running toward the kitchen. “Purple’s gone! Dad! I can’t find Purple!”

“Shhh. It’s okay Roman.” Thomas peeled Roman off of his leg and pulled him into a hug. “Purple just needed to sleep somewhere else. He’s in the bathroom down here.”

Roman sniffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve. “He’s okay?”

“Yeah. He’s okay now.” Thomas stood up slowly, needing to make sure that the pancakes didn’t burn. “If you’re quiet, you can check in on him okay? But let him sleep.”

As Roman’s bright red pajamas disappeared, Thomas sighed. Although he doubted it, hopefully Virgil hadn’t stayed up too late and hopefully Roman hadn’t been too loud. He flipped the pancakes, trying to keep an ear out for Roman and Virgil.

Roman tilted his head down at his friend. Virgil was on his side staring at Roman’s feet. His right hand was pulled up around his ear while his left tangled with the frills of the rug.

“Dad is making us pancakes. Pancakes with the fun colors!” Roman smiled and crouched slightly.

“Blue…” Virgil whispered and closed his eyes.

Roman frowned. “I’m sure they’ll come after breakfast.” Roman shuffled closer before whispering, “Maybe we can convince Dad to let us watch a movie again while we eat.”

“Blue…” Virgil repeated but stood and shuffled behind Roman as the pair made their way to the kitchen. Virgil snaked his arm up is pajama sleeve. Roman grabbed the empty end and smiled again at Virgil.

“I’ll try to get Mulan on again.” Roman whispered gleefully.

 

The two boys sat on the couch, their sides pushed together. Roman shoveled the syrup covered pancakes into his mouth with one hand while the other stayed wrapped around Virgil’s sleeve. Virgil kept his head down, just peeking out from under his beanie to see Mushu running around. The colorful plain pancakes were left mostly untouched on his own plate.

Roman said that the Blues would be back when they finished breakfast, but Virgil couldn’t bring himself to eat much. Hopefully they would still come even though he wouldn’t finish. He wanted to go home to the Blues. He wanted to sleep in his bed. He wanted to eat breakfast in his chair.

 

“Hello?”

Virgil was off the couch before the word was even finished. He rushed around the corner and jumped up wrapping himself tightly around his dad.

“Oh…” Logan wasn’t sure what he should do but slowly wrapped his arms tightly around his son. Virgil didn’t… he’d never… Logan barely understood what was going on, the night had been so overwhelming. The sounds of Virgil crying pulled Logan back. “Shhh.” Logan cooed and rearranged Virgil into a more natural position. He further tightened his arms around Virgil. His son.

“I’m back Purp. I’m back.” Logan whispered into the purple beanie. “I’m never going to leave you again.”


	3. The Adults

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened on the adult’s side of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m bad at conflict, but I tried my best.

Patton opened the door.   
  


“Hi Dee.” Patton greeted, his normal cheeriness was toned down but still there. “I’m Patton. We didn’t get a chance to properly meet last night.”

Dee gave a small nod and shook Patton’s outstretched hand. He toed off his shoes as Patton rambled on probably some synopsis of his life but Dee wasn’t paying attention. His eyes scanning across the cluttered shoe pile. Shiny dress shoes. Doodle decorated sneakers. But no small purple shoes. 

He felt himself hunch further into himself. He hadn’t meant last night to go down as it had - hurting his son, getting chewed out by his brother. He had messed everything up.

For the first time in years, he had found himself at a bar. He sat there staring at the liquor bottles, the beer taps. His hands anxiously flexing around a glass of water. Dee, in his bowler hat and bow tie, stayed for hours frozen.

When he finally came back to himself, he dropped the bartender a $20 tip and made the slow trek back home. The bartender had left him alone; if he hadn’t, Dee knew he would’ve said yes to that drink.

Dee took a deep breath and followed Patton through the house toward the kitchen table.   
  


Logan stared down at the once warm tea. His one hand gently traced the worn down grooves of the wooden table. He had planted himself in Virgil’s seat, his back to the front door. Dee was here, he had heard the knock but couldn’t get himself to answer it. 

Logan took another deep breath. He didn’t want to deal with this. He had never planned on dealing with it. He assumed he just thought poorly of his brother; he wouldn’t come back for the son he abandoned, he would never straighten out his life.

Virgil was his. When Dee got admitted the first time, custody was given to Logan. Dee was declared unfit. He had an alcohol and lying problem.

But now he was back. And had taken great strides to be a fit parent. Logan looked up at the sound of footsteps. Patton and Dee shuffled around the table, Patton sat beside Logan while Dee grabbed the far chair.

“You have a lovely house.” Dee noted with a glance around.

Logan have a quiet hum. He felt something land on his thigh and glance down to see Patton’s upturned hand. The nervous father slid his hand from the tea and tightly wrapped it around Patton’s. 

More tense silence filled the room.

“You can’t have Virgil back.” Logan stated blankly.

There was no beating around the bush. No need for small talk. 

Dee sat up straighter. Virgil was his son. He got better so he could be with him. And he was better. It was tough and took longer than he would’ve liked, but he could do this now.

“Logan -“

“No. Virgil is comfortable here. He’s grown up here. He’s not yours to take.” Logan’s hand tightened around Patton’s.

“I left him with you to hold on to him for me so he wouldn’t be with strangers. Not to steal him!” Dee hissed and narrowed his eyes.

Logan took a deep breath, keeping the anger and fear inside him. “Tell me about Virgil.”

Dee’s face started to drop. “Who is his best friend? His favorite past time? Food he won’t go near? The thing that scares him the most?”

Dee didn’t know. But he was here! He wanted to learn - he needed to know. Logan was being unreasonable. Of course Dee needed some time to learn everything, but at the end Virgil would come back to him.  But none of that came out. He just sat there gulping like a fish.

“Do you even know he’s autistic?” Logan added, hopefully the last nail in Dee’s coffin. “How he’s non-verbal? How he sees people as colors?”

“I can learn!” Dee shouted, finding himself on his feet.

“ **He’s my son!”**

Patton glanced between the two brothers as they leaned over the table staring each other down. He sighed as he glanced between the red faced men. 

“Excuse me. I need a moment.” Logan said curtly before disappearing out the front door.

 

Dee stood there staring at the empty spot and breathing heavily. Patton slowly made his way into the kitchen to grab each of them a drink. He was disappointed. He knew that Logan would fight for his son, but it wasn’t an issue they could resolve with yelling. The teacher had gone over and over with Logan what he wanted to say, the points he wanted to hit. 

Patton carefully placed the cold water in front of Dee.

“Purple.” Dee said quietly as he stared into the glass. “His favorite color’s purple.” 

Patton gave a small hum acknowledgement. Dee took a deep breath in through the nose before releasing it out his mouth. He sat down letting his fingers run over the condensation on the glass.

“His shoes. Yesterday. They were purple. And… and there weren’t any more shoes his size by the door.” Dee whispered.

“I can learn.” Dee locked eyes with Patton. “I can learn.”

“Virgil is Logan’s son now.” Patton raised his hand as Dee opened his mouth to protest. “But, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be in his life.”

Tension left Dee’s shoulders. They still were drawn up, but not as much. 

“You got yourself help, and I’m sure you’ll keep getting it. And that has merit. But you have to understand this isn’t just going to happen overnight. You’ve been gone. It’s been a long time.”    
  


Logan returned some time later, disheveled but calmer. He rocked in his feet a moment before motioning Dee to follow him upstairs. The pair stopped outside of a closed door and Logan let his eyes close for a few seconds.

Logan led Dee into the purple filled room. Dee wandered around, trying to take in every quirk and detail he could. Everything meant something to Virgil. It was a glimpse into his son’s mind. 

It didn’t take long until he saw it. On the small nightstand we’re two picture frames. Dee knelt down, not wanting to disrupt the bed.

The front frame held a selfie of Patton and Logan. But in the background, Dee could just make out the purple clad boy chasing the ducks by the lake.

But the picture in the half hidden frame was the important one. He couldn’t help himself and pulled it forward. The edges were singed and the picture was mostly blackened. 

He wasn’t sure when he had started crying, but tears were suddenly falling onto the floor. Dee gently ran his fingers over the glass.

“You are my brother, there is nothing that can change that.” Logan’s voice starling Dee. “Horrible things happened to you. Life cannot be the way it was before. But your choices have led to a better outcome.”

Dee pulled the picture against his chest letting sobs shake his body.

“I am no longer angry over the past. But you cannot live then. The past is still there, the… the present it just different now…”

Dee nodded his head. After a few minutes to let his diving slow, Dee stood up. 

“....Can I… Can I keep this?” 

Logan went to nod before stopping himself. His jaw flexed a few times before shaking his head slightly. “You’ll have to ask your nephew.”

“Of… of course.” Dee slowly wiped away the smudges and returned the frame to its place, half hidden behind the other.

“We will work out an acceptable time for you to do so.” Logan added, a bit more optimism in his voice than he’d had all night.


End file.
